Focus actuators in optical disc drives are driven to control the position of a lens relative to an optical disc. Accurate positioning of the lens above the surface of an optical disc ensures that digital data and optically visible labeling marks made on the disc are properly produced. Unfortunately, in optical disc drives, the gain of a typical focus actuator may vary as much as plus or minus 90%, and the resulting lens positioning error can prevent the data and labeling marks from being properly recorded.